Blues D Jay Bouwmeester's ironman consecutive games streak ends

St. Louis Blues defenseman Jay Bouwmeester had his ironman streak come to an end Sunday night as he missed the Blues' game against the Winnipeg Jets after playing in 737 consecutive games.

Bouwmeester was forced out of action due to a lower-body injury he sustained in the third period of St. Louis' win over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday.

Bouwmeester's streak was the longest active run in all of professional sports and is the fifth-longest in NHL history.

"I think if you're ever at a point where you can't play and you're going to be a detriment out there, then you're not going to play,"​ Bouwmeester said Friday, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "I've never really kept track what that streak is at ... the number or anything like that. You don't think about it. You just approach it like you want to play. 

"Most guys, if they're able to play, they're going to play. But you're not going to do anything that's going to take away from the whole team thing."

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Bouwmeester’s last missed game came in 2003-04, his second season in the league, while playing for the Florida Panthers.

Anaheim Ducks forward Andrew Cogliano now holds the league’s longest streak at 562 games, including Sunday night. He didn't enter the NHL until 2007, four seasons after Bouwmeester's streak began.

Blues defenseman Barret Jackman and center Steve Ott were the only players in Sunday night's St. Louis-Winnipeg game who were in the NHL when Bouwmeester last missed a game.

The last time Bouwmeester didn't play:

- Games could still end in ties

- Colorado Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon was eight years old

- Gas cost just under $2.00 a gallon

- George W. Bush was campaigning for a second presidential term

- LeBron James was playing his rookie season for the Cleveland Cavaliers

- The first version of Facebook, “thefacebook,” was created

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Bouwmeester has a plus-1 rating and is averaging 23:13 of ice time this season. The Blues defeated the Jets 4-2 on Sunday and lead the Central Division with 29 points through 21 games.

-- Judy Cohen